First they came for the racists,
But I said nothing, because I was a little less racist.
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I agree, so does he. We’re coming to the same conclusion from different directions: white nationalism = racism, however you look at it.
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Utah GOP calling for his head. I hear the chorus can get pretty big there.
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When you’re too racist for the GOP…
Just waiting to see Trump’s tweet defending him to complete the circle.
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Maybe they are just freeing up his calendar for his presidential campaign in 2020?
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This exactly. Anytime one part of the GOP does something that will alienate their base, another has to stand up for idiocy/racism/what-have-you so the party doesn’t split.
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Ha! That encourages me. I really hoped to be rid of Cruz this last election, but at least the fucker is scared.
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In a sensible world we’d be more concerned about white nationalism than about racism, in the same way we are more concerned about shoot-outs than gangs. We’ve probably all done something racist in our lives. We don’t all concoct a plan to annex Cuba, send all the black people there, and then re-enact Apartheid South Africa.
White nationalism isn’t just racism. It’s racism so racist that it wants to make it’s own racist flag so it can wave it around to pronounce to the world how racist it is.
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And now he’s pulling the freeze peach card.
How typical.
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Contrasting “white supremacy” with “white nationalism” is a distinction without a difference. Neither involve having the “whites” in question pack up and move to someplace where they can live unburdened by the presence of “lesser races.” Barring building Sealandia, there aren’t any.
That leaves:
- Going somewhere with natives and either subjugating them, evicting them, or killing them.
- Staying where they are and either subjugating them, evicting them, or killing them.
That’s it. If you want a “white nation” all to yourself, you can either build your own or steal one that exists and “ethnically cleanse” it (euphemism: purge the “undesirables” with fire and blood).
It doesn’t matter what you call it, they’re functionally identical. Since there’s an existing term for that (“White supremacy”) the only point in rebranding the same old thing is to muddy the waters.
Simply put, it’s a euphemism: a (temporarily) less-ugly word for the ugly truth. Since I’m opposed to corrupting the public discourse and doubly so for evil ends, I call it what it is.
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I’m not sure I agree with that. I think that although the terms “white nationalism” and “white supremacy” are not contradictory to one another in any meaningful way, they aren’t interchangeable. White nationalism carries with it inherent notions of white supremacy, as you point out, but it also carries the meanings of “nationalism” as that concept arose in the last century. That’s an important added layer to the equation, especially meaningful when we’re talking about elected officials.
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I’m not sure for me I can see which one is “worse” or why I should use one but not the other. Aren’t they different aspects/stages of the same thing? First you make up a white “race” and then assert that this race is superior, then you genocide the fuck out of any ethnic groups nearby and/or you commit treason and terrorism in your own country until all freedom is hobbled and you can squat in the shithole you’ve created and call yourself a nation.
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Entirely true. It’s also important to note that the term white nationalism was specifically developed by former white supremacist Derrick Black as a way to softpedal white supremacy and get people who might not otherwise be on board with their projects to sign on.
Except it was specifically used to mask a white supremacist agenda - this comes straight from the horses mouth. Black helped popularize that terminology, not because he didn’t believe in white supremacy, but to hide his true beliefs from the public.
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I don’t actually think that they should expel him from the chamber, as much as I want to see him gone. (and do I ever: since the 2010 redistricting he is now the representative of the city I grew up in, and of my parents and brother’s family). Being a racist asshole is still not illegal, even for a representative, and I think that should be the bar for expulsion. But they should expel him from the house republican caucus and the Iowa GOP, including if possible his ability to run on the republican ticket in 2020. They should call for his resignation, and they should tell the Iowans who voted for him that they should be ashamed – like the rest of Iowa has been for years.
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That’s a fair point re: this doofus, but I think my point remains that “nationalism” as a concept is an added layer on top of the concept of white supremacy that carries, or at least can carry additional meaning.
I think part of the problem is that relying on any one idiot’s interpretation of what the terms actually connote is going to lead to some blind alleys, given that they are inherently dishonest and more often than not stupid as well.
I also think a part of the problem is that anyone who thinks adding “nationalist” to your descriptor makes it more palatable is either fundamentally ignorant about what nationalism actually entails and what it led to in the 20th century, or fundamentally dishonest. Or both, I guess. (and to be crystal clear: this is a dig at white nationalists and their branding efforts, not folks engaged in this conversation presently)
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No, he literally was one of the key figures to popularize the term for a very specific purpose. He’s not some rando, he is the son of a very prominent figure and was himself a prominent figure in white supremacist circles. Black got out in recent years, and has gone on record as having done this. That actually matters here, because he was one of the people involved in the attempts to rebrand white supremacy (and his father who runs that well known white supremacist message board).
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I don’t think we disagree about who that doofus is or what he was attempting to do.
He left the movement, so not as much of a doofus, I’d say. He spent his childhood being indoctrinated, so the fact that he was able to move past it (when so many people aren’t) and speak out against his upbringing speaks volumes about his actual character.
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That’s interesting, and I’ll amend my descriptor to “former doofus working on redemption.”
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